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Romans In Brazil During The Second Third Century?
Mysterious Earth ^

Posted on 12/10/2003 5:37:14 PM PST by blam

Romans in Brazil During the Second or Third Century?

Ex-marine and underwater explorer/archaeologist/treasure-hunter Robert Marx states rather flatly:

Amongst my most notable discover[ies] was that of a 2nd century BC Roman shipwreck in the Bay of Guanabara, near Rio de Janeiro. This is a discovery that has received little to no examination, much less validation, from the realm of mainstream archaeology, no doubt in part because Marx is not a Ph.D. archaeologist. Scouring the web for more information about this finding, I did find a reference to the discovery in an article from Dr. Elizabeth Lyding Will, an expert on Roman amphoras (clay vessels used to store and ship goods during the Roman era). Dr. Will apparently has a piece of an amphora recovered from Marx's Brazil discovery. Of it, she says:

The highly publicized amphoras Robert Marx found in the ship are in fact similar in shape to jars produced in kilns at Kouass, on the west coast of Morocco. The Rio jars look to be late versions of those jars, perhaps datable to the third century A.D. I have a large piece of one of the Rio jars, but no labs I have consulted have any clay similar in composition. So the edges of the earth for Rome, beyond India and Scotland and eastern Europe, remain shrouded in mystery. Information about this find is practically non existent. Gary Fretz's synopsis of the "whole story" suggests that the find has been suppressed by the Brazilian government:

At the time the amphorae were confirmed to be "Roman", the large Italian faction in Brazil were extremely excited about this news. The Italian ambassador to Brazil notified the Brazilian government that, since the Romans were the first to "discover" Brazil, then all Italian immigrants should be granted immediate citizenship. There are a large number of Italian immigrants in Brazil and the government has created a tedious and costly citizenship application procedure for Italians that does not apply to Portuguese immigrants. The Brazilian government would not give in and the Italians in Brazil staged demonstrations. In response, the Brazilian government ordered all civilians off the recovery project and censored further news about the wreck hoping to diffuse the civil unrest. Finally, I've also seen mention of the following written works, which I've yet to dig up: Marx R.F., 1984 , Romans in Rio? [see Santarelli A. Mondo Sommerso 270 1983:252-3. Oceans, 17.4: 18-21.] The Romans in Rio book (?) is not among the works of Robert Marx as listed at Amazon.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ageofsail; ancientnavigation; archaeology; bayofguanabara; bayofjars; brazil; century; elizabethlydingwill; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; guanabarabay; history; italy; kouass; lixus; morocco; nauticalarchaeology; navigation; riodejaneiro; riojars; robertmarx; romanempire; romans; second; third
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To: U S Army EOD
"His boat beat him to Central America by about two weeks. He finally made it in the raft."

Extreme Homer Simpson "DOOOUUHHHH" alert!
61 posted on 02/20/2004 3:43:28 AM PST by Lockbar
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To: Cronos
The Canary Islands can be seen from the coast of Africa and are not very far from Gibraltar, entrance to Med. The further west you go you see more islands. Once you get to the most western island you may assume that there should be another one. Go six more miles and you get caught in the Canary Current which sweeps you into the trade winds. If your ship could not sail against the wind, and the Roman ships could not, you end up in Central or South America in about 30 to 40 days or less on that type of ship. There is plenty of rain, plenty of fish and no storms. It is a very easy trip. The problem is you can't get back unless you know about the Gulf Stream and how to find your latitude. My guess is after 30 days at sea without seeing land, if they made the trip, there would be no way to get them back on the boat.
62 posted on 02/20/2004 5:35:28 AM PST by U S Army EOD (Volunteer for EOD and you will never have to worry about getting wounded.)
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To: Cronos
"I thought it was proven that King Solomon's mine were either in Ethiopia or Yemen."

I don't think much of anything about King Solomon is proven. Some question if there even was a King Solomon.

63 posted on 02/20/2004 5:42:13 AM PST by blam
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To: blam
This reminds me of a find from that area that was published years ago. The main find was Roman style columns - sometimes used as ballast in ships around the 15th and 16th Century. Any pieces of amphora might also have been included in the ballast.
No ship parts were found - only the ballast.
64 posted on 02/20/2004 5:47:37 AM PST by R. Scott (My cynicism rises with the proximity of the elections.)
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To: blam
That too...and also something about the size of the space shuttle.

The Solid Rocket Booster segment size is determined by what can feasibly be moved by rail.

65 posted on 02/20/2004 5:49:40 AM PST by hopespringseternal
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To: blam
....over six feet tall, he is also the one who began the practice of Harakiri.

Were he over six feet tall, suicide would have been unnecessary as he would have been continually banging his head on door frames. Instead of harakiri, it's entirely possible this hairy guy originated the ancient Japanese phrase, "Knock yaself out."

66 posted on 02/20/2004 6:00:12 AM PST by Kenny Bunk
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To: R. Scott
This artifact found in Mexico will not go away.

Ancient Roman Discovered In Mexico

"Hristov also consulted art experts, who agreed that the head was Roman, dating roughly to AD 200. Furthermore, a review of the circumstances surrounding the head's original discovery confirmed that the head was placed in the burial ground where it was found no later than 1510, a decade before the Spanish arrived in Meso-America."

"Crucially, the head was excavated from the site by professionals, says David Kelley, an archaeologist at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. "This was sealed under three floors. It's as close to archaeological certainty as you can get."

67 posted on 02/20/2004 6:16:17 AM PST by blam
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To: blam
There is also the thing with the large carved heads representing several different races.
I have no problem with a ship or two being blown off course in a storm and riding the currents to South America.
68 posted on 02/20/2004 8:07:20 AM PST by R. Scott (My cynicism rises with the proximity of the elections.)
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To: R. Scott
I have no problem with a ship or two being blown off course in a storm and riding the currents to South America.

That is well within the realms of possibility. After all, 30 days on ship and the Phoenicians, Romans, Vikings would have landed in the Americas. Getting back is another question. only Columbus did that (he was also the only one with a good PR manager back home....)
69 posted on 02/20/2004 8:27:26 AM PST by Cronos (W2K4!)
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To: farmfriend
please add me to the GGG ping list :-)
70 posted on 02/20/2004 8:27:57 AM PST by fnord (Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence)
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To: fnord
Consider yourself added. If you ever change your mind, or I get you on the wrong list, just let me know.
71 posted on 02/20/2004 11:34:11 AM PST by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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To: R. Scott
"There is also the thing with the large carved heads representing several different races."

Those are the Olmec. They sprang from nothing to a full blown civilization at about the same time as the collapse of the Shang Dynasy in China...where it is recorded that 250,000 'took to the sea.'

The Olmec And The Shang

72 posted on 02/20/2004 11:38:35 AM PST by blam
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To: blam
Wow! I had heard something about Roman's being in Brazil during the first third century, but no the second third century!

Eerie

73 posted on 02/20/2004 11:39:52 AM PST by technomage
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To: R. Scott
"There is also the thing with the large carved heads representing several different races."

Those are the Olmec. They sprang from nothing to a full blown civilization at about the same time as the collapse of the Shang Dynasy in China...where it is recorded that 250,000 'took to the sea.'

The Olmec And The Shang

This statue was found in Olmec ruins. (...as well as 'Cord-Pottery' which is identified with the Jomon of Japan)

74 posted on 02/20/2004 11:41:25 AM PST by blam
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To: technomage
"Wow! I had heard something about Roman's being in Brazil during the first third century, but no the second third century! "

Quit it! You're making fun of my mistake in the title, lol.

75 posted on 02/20/2004 11:43:26 AM PST by blam
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To: blam
The ship probably sailed through the Strait of Gibralta, got damaged in a storm, drifted into the North Equatorial Current, the crew died of starvation, the ship drifted into the Guyana Current and got beached off Rio. Yeh, that's what happened.
76 posted on 02/20/2004 11:52:57 AM PST by Consort
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To: blam
If true, it's more likely a Gaulish ship. They were more comparable to the ships Columbus used.
77 posted on 02/20/2004 11:55:05 AM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: blam
The Tartessians who built the so-called America's Stonehenge at North Salem, New Hampshire, date to the area of 2000 BC or earlier, so they trump the Rio wreck.

Yes, I studied that quite a bit when I was about 15 or so... Romans also on coasts of VA, Venezuela, up the rivers of Alabama, on the coast at Beverly, Mass.
78 posted on 02/20/2004 11:58:37 AM PST by Chris Talk (What Earth now is, Mars once was. What Mars now is, Earth will become.)
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To: blam
There is an recent article on unknowncountry.com about the Chupacabras living in caves in Chile even at the present time.
79 posted on 02/20/2004 12:00:35 PM PST by Chris Talk (What Earth now is, Mars once was. What Mars now is, Earth will become.)
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To: Cronos
Furthermore, why would Romans in 19 B.C. be blonde and blue-eyed????

Many a Roman family had a Celt in the woodpile. ;-)

80 posted on 02/20/2004 12:11:14 PM PST by Polybius
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